Scottish actor James McAvoy narrowly avoids £10,000 Tenerife hotel scam

X-men star James McAvoy has issued a warning to fans after he was almost scammed out of £10,000 while trying to book a family holiday.
James McAvoy at the World Premiere of "Wanted". Mann Village Westwood, Westwood, CA. Pic: ShutterstockJames McAvoy at the World Premiere of "Wanted". Mann Village Westwood, Westwood, CA. Pic: Shutterstock
James McAvoy at the World Premiere of "Wanted". Mann Village Westwood, Westwood, CA. Pic: Shutterstock

X-men star James McAvoy has issued a warning to fans after he was almost scammed out of £10,000 while trying to book a family holiday.

The Scottish actor told his Instagram followers he was trying to arrange his stay at the the Ritz Carlton Abama in Tenerife when he was nearly conned by a fake website.

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McAvoy said the page offered a better deal than the actual hotel's site, but he checked with a travel agent who confirmed it was too good to be true.

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The 39-year-old warned holidaymakers off www.ritzabamatenerife.com, saying that although the site looks legitimate, you could be on the receiving end of a nasty scam.

The actor said he was asked to wire money by bank transfer to receive a special 10 per cent discount and send a copy of his passport photo.

McAvoy captioned the video: "Just avoided being scammed online. TRYING TO BOOK A HOLIDAY FOR MY FAMILY AT THE RITZ Carlton Abama hotel in Tenerife.

"The real website is www.ritzcarlton.com DO NOT USE THIS ONE (www.ritzabamatenerife.com) #annerobinsonweneedyou #watchdogbbc material."

The clip can be viewed here

In the video he says he has just avoided being scammed and that he has made the video to highlight the bogus website.

He added: "They are the ritzabamatenerife.com, the real place is the Ritz Carlton Abama.

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"Don’t use them, they nearly took £10,000 off me, which is a ton of money.

"Some guy called Joaquin emailing me back and forth, nearly made a bank transfer. Very convincing – their website is actually better than the Ritz Carlton’s website.

"If you’ve been scammed by them, hit me up. I’ve told the Ritz Carlton, they know now.

"The other thing is that after you have filled out a booking form they will ask you to make a booking via bank transfer after sending them a picture of your passport page.

"That’s something I’ve done before in the past and it seems legit.

"You also get a 10% discount – they say – by doing a bank transfer, again more incentive to get excited about it.

"I just thought the deal seemed too good to be true so I double checked it through a travel agent and it was – of course – a tenth of the price it should be.

"So I’m not going on that holiday."

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The post has racked up over 130,000 likes since the Last King of Scotland actor posted it online yesterday afternoon.

Followers applauded McAvoy for highlighting the scam.

One, hethwatev, wrote: "Good guy James McAvoy, looking out for the people."